The EASA PPL theory exam

Who examines you

The theory exam is conducted by the aviation authority, not by your flight school. You take all exams for a licence with the same authority of one Member State. You may only sit the exam once your school (DTO or ATO) recommends you, after you have completed the theory training to a satisfactory standard. The recommendation is valid for 12 months. If you take no exam paper within that time, the school decides whether you need further training.

The nine subjects

Part-FCL lists the same subjects for the PPL and the LAPL. Five are common to all aircraft categories, four depend on the category:

Common subjects	Category-specific subjects
Air law	Principles of flight
Human performance	Operational procedures
Meteorology	Flight performance and planning
Communications	Aircraft general knowledge
Navigation

The content is set out in the EASA syllabus in AMC1 FCL.210; FCL.215, which also applies to the LAPL.

Pass mark, deadlines, attempts

Rule	What the regulation says (summarised)
Pass mark	at least 75 per cent of the marks in each paper, no penalty marking
Deadline	all papers within 18 months, counted from the end of the calendar month of the first attempt
Attempts	at most four per paper
After that	after four failed attempts or once the period has run out: all papers again, after further training at a school
Validity	24 months for the issue of a LAPL or PPL, counted from the day you completed the theory

How many questions

For the PPL, EASA recommends a total of 120 multiple-choice questions covering all subjects (AMC1 FCL.215; FCL.235). Countries implement this differently. The North German aviation authorities state 132 questions in 284 minutes (as of 05/2021), Switzerland 124 questions. The numbers per subject are on the country pages.

Which questions are asked is decided by the authority. There is no question bank prescribed EU-wide for the PPL: the obligation to use the EASA question bank (ECQB) applies only to the ATPL, MPL, CPL and instrument ratings (ARA.FCL.300). The overview of question banks by country shows which authority uses which bank.

What you may bring

EASA lists a scientific, non-programmable, non-alphanumeric calculator without aviation functions, a mechanical navigation computer, a protractor, compasses and dividers, and a ruler. The authority may allow a translation dictionary. Countries set the details themselves, sometimes more strictly: since 1 October 2026, Austria provides a standard calculator in Vienna. Check your authority’s rules before the exam.

Exam language

The authority tells you which languages are available. In Germany and Austria you can choose German or English. In Switzerland you can choose German, French or Italian, and English as well for the PPL(A) and PPL(H).